It finally happened. I entered the dark world of blogging. I never understood why anyone would want to know that I woke up, had a bowl of cereal, took a shower, etc. And I still don't understand. But this Blog is different. I was convinced that if I am serious about writing, then I needed to blog about writing. So this blog will be dedicated to the craft of writing in all its various aspects. So join in the fun!

Monday, March 21, 2016

Stellar Speed

The format of my blog is changing. I'll now be posting one flash fiction story each month. I'd love to hear your feedback on any of the stories. Enjoy! -HT

John jammed his carry-on suitcase
into the overhead compartment with a grunt. He had purposely chosen the train
car near the back for the fewer people. He slumped into a forward-facing seat
rather than be trapped with strangers in the four-seat sections facing each
other. Pulling up his virtual newspaper, he hoped others would sense his wish
to be alone.

He
tried to ignore the murmurs as others gathered. So far, no one had considered
sharing space with an elderly gentleman absorbed in his own business. John
heard the whistle for the last call and sighed in relief.

Just
as the train was about to pull away from the station, a boy stumbled down the
aisle, tripping over a suitcase that was three times too big for him. His
elbows were level with his ears as he tried to half-push, half-carry it before
him.

The boy stopped at
the empty seat next to John. From beneath his brow, John saw the boy look for
help, but nobody paid any attention. Finally the boy just slid the suitcase on
its side under the seat next to John. It stuck halfway out into the leg space,
but the small boy wouldn’t know the difference.

John
sighed. Not only did he have to share a seat, but it was with an obnoxious kid.

The
boy leaned toward John, interrupting the light for the newspaper. It flickered.
“Hi,” the boy said, “my name is Tommy. What’s yours?”

The
sooner he could get the pleasantries over with, the sooner he could get back to
his paper. “John.”

“It’s
nice to meet you, John. Isn’t this awesome? I’m so excited. This is my first
star trip ever. How many have you been on? Is this your first one too? You’re
awfully old if this is your first trip. My parents have been on three, but they
couldn’t come this time. My parents told me to sign up with the Junior
Explorers program. Do you know anything about it? The Heripedes Star is
supposed to have the best solar activity this year. I’m not exactly sure what
that means, but it sounds cool. What do you think?”

The
holographic conductor appeared in the aisle before John could answer. It
duplicated every few feet, making it appear to speak directly to each passenger
as it looked side to side.

"Ladies
and gentlemen, boys and girls. We welcome you to Stellar Express. Please, to
ensure safety, all passengers must remain seated for the first hour of flight
as we reach stellar speed…” John listened repeat the same message he’d heard on
the last hundred trips. Didn’t they ever update it? Finally, “And once again,
thank you for choosing Stellar Express.”

Tommy
turned to John, eyes bright. “This is so cool!”

“Sure.”

“So
how many times have you been to the stars?”

“Hundreds.”

Tommy’s
eyes widened and his mouth rounded like John had just admitted he was a
superhero. Perhaps in Tommy’s mind, he had. “Wow,” he said, “you’re so lucky.”

“Not
really. I go for work. I help keep an eye on all the solar activity. All that traveling isn’t that exciting.”

Tommy’s
face collapsed. “It isn’t?”

With
a sigh, he switched off his newspaper. “If I show you, will you leave me alone?”

Tommy
nodded. John gestured to plug his Perspective Specs into the console between
them as he did the same. When they settled in, John closed his eyes and began
thinking about his first trip to the stars. He remembered his face plastered
against the glass, hands spread, as the special UV filters lowered into place.

“But
it’s pink. I didn’t think it would be pink,” Tommy said.

“It
was on that trip, but the color is based upon how they tint the filter. I’ve
seen pink, blue, red, violet, even green and yellow. No orange though.”

“Maybe this time’ll
be orange,” Tommy said.

John rolled his
eyes. “Maybe.”

The
memory-image then focused on a massive flaming sphere. Tommy gasped as an arc
of gas leapt from the surface and dispersed into space. A tunnel of similar
arcs followed suit. “It looks like those plasma balls back home, but
different,” Tommy said.

“That’s
a good description, but these are more controlled. A specific shape instead of
random attraction. Here’s another one.”

John
scrolled through his memory to a series of blue solar flares. Random bursts of
brilliant light flashed across the memory-surface. “This one reminds me of musical
light shows,” Tommy said. He gasped as one of the flares ejected a cloud of gas
into the atmosphere above it. Tommy looked at John. “How is it possible to see
all this in a month?”

Perhaps
Tommy was more perceptive than he realized. “You may not see it all on one trip,
but I doubt that’s what you meant. Our train travels between wormholes at
stellar speed, just under the speed of light. The wormholes are like folds in
space. When we go through them, we can jump great distances in very little
time.”

Tommy nodded, thoughtful. “I see.”

“One last image
today. This is called a coronal hole. It’s not very interesting to look at by
itself because it’s just that big black spot in the middle of the star. But
what it does is amazing.”

“What
does it do?”

“It
emits gasses into space, and when those gasses contact an atmosphere, like
around Earth, it turns into a glorious light display. Back home, we call it the
Aurora Borealis.”

“I’ve
seen that!” Tommy said excitedly. He yanked the Perspective Specs off and
bounced on his seat.

“See,
you didn’t have to come all the way to space for solar activity. You’ve seen it
at home.”

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